Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, July 31, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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circumnavigate
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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IntensifiersIntensifiers are adverbs or adverbials that modify adjectives and other adverbs to increase their strength, power, or intensity. What are some examples of intensifiers? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The BlowgunA blowgun is a hollow tube out of which a dart or an arrow is blown. The projectile is usually tipped with a poison, like curare, to stun or kill prey. Usually used for hunting and rarely in warfare, blowguns vary in length from 18 in (45 cm) to over 23 ft (7 m) and are often crafted from cane or bamboo. The arrows, made to fit snugly in the gun’s tube, are fashioned from palm leaf midribs or bamboo splinters. Blowguns were widely used by prehistoric peoples and are still used in what locations? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 K2 Is Summited for the First Time (1954)Rising 28,251 ft (8,611 m) between China and Pakistan, K2 is the second-highest peak in the world after Mount Everest. Severe storms make K2 more dangerous to climb, however, and it has never been summited in winter. Measured in 1856, it was not summited until nearly 100 years later. In 1954, Italians Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli reached the top with the help of crew members who carried oxygen to above 26,245 feet (8,000 m). What thwarted an American attempt just one year earlier? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy (1396)A man of shifting alliances, Philip the Good ruled Burgundy at the height of its prestige and presided over one of Europe's most lavish courts. After his father was murdered during a meeting with the dauphin of France—the future King Charles VII—Philip formed an alliance with England but then broke it to recognize Charles as king and gain French favor. Phillip soon turned on Charles, however, sheltering his rebellious son, the eventual King Louis XI. Who was captured by Phillip's troops in 1430? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 As to the sufferers, whose sole inheritance was labor, and who had lost that inheritance; who could not get work, and consequently could not get wages, and consequently could not get bread; they were left to suffer on, perhaps inevitably left.Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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lose (one's)/the way— To become lost; to become unable to find the correct course forward. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola (2021)St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) founded the Society of Jesus, the Roman Catholic religious order whose members are known as Jesuits. The Feast of St. Ignatius is celebrated by Jesuits everywhere, but particularly in the Basque region of Spain where he was born. The largest Basque community in North America, located in Boise, Idaho, holds its annual St. Ignatius Loyola Picnic on the last weekend in July—an event often referred to as the Basque Festival. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: huskbeer nut - A peanut served with its husk but not its shell. More... brown sugar, brown rice - Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined; brown rice is unpolished with only the husk removed. More... husk - A shortening of Dutch huisken, "little house." More... paddy - As in "field," it is from a Malay word meaning "rice in the straw or husk" (making rice paddy redundant). More... | |